The Bottle
by Simie
Summary: A message in a bottle written years before is delivered to the one it was written too.


April 8,1860

Captain Daniel Gregg left the confines of his cabin and out into the night, rejoicing in the melodic feel of the deck beneath his feet. The night was pleasantly cool with just a hint of breeze coming from the south across the vast expanse of ocean. In the sky the Milky Way could be clearly seen against a backdrop of deep velvety black. The stars shone brightly highlighting the constellations. The night was perfect, his ship ahead of schedule. The first mate at the helm. Although his crew was excellent and he had no reason to believe anything would be out of place he walked the length of the ship and as was his habit and made sure everything was in order. He sighed with satisfaction and turned to go back to his cabin to retire for the night.

He stopped midway and leaned out over the railing, smelling deeply of the salt tinged air. The ships cat rubbed against his legs seeking for a treat. He looked around and making sure he was unobserved reached into this pocket and withdrew a tidbit left over from his dinner. The cat ate it hungrily purring for more. Captain Gregg stroked it absently, feeling the warmth of his furry body and lulled into reverie by the constant purr. What he wouldn't give to have a woman with him tonight.

"Now where in blazes had that thought come from?" he though sternly at himself. Giving the cat another affectionate rub between the ears he walked to his cabin and retired for the night. As he slept he dreamt of a woman. First he had a vision of blonde hair and green eyes, smiling at him across a crackling fire. He saw in her eyes intelligence, and independence, and bit of stubbornness. He could tell that she was not going to let him bully her, neither was she going to cling to him. Next through the foggy vision of his dream he saw her at his home in gull cottage welcoming him home from his voyage. With a feeling of ultimate joy he started toward her but the closer the got the more her form obscured against the background and the only thing that he saw clearly was a pair of vivid green eyes. This he knew was woman that he had longed for ever since he knew about women. The one he had, in his deepest heart, thought longingly of even while he was engaged to Vanessa. He was reaching for her desperately trying to keep her with him for always and she was reaching for him. But all the while she was fading. He managed to touch her hands only to find them turn to mist at his touch. She called his name and it sounded as if it came over a distance of miles. She disappeared slowly only her eyes lingering for a moment before they too disappeared.

He woke up suddenly from his dream haunted by those green eyes. Her voice calling his name still ringing in his ears. He knew he had never seen this woman before in his life yet he also knew this was the woman, the only one that he would take into his heart and his home. Although he knew it was impossible, he somehow felt that he had actually seen her and that if he only knew how he could reach out and touch her right now. The knowledge that he did not know how made him feel a longing for her so deep that he could scarcely bear it. A feeling of loneliness and sadness swept over him making him feel that he could no longer breath so great was the burden of it.

Further sleep alluded him. He first sought to go out and attend to whatever needed attending too, but was unable to rid himself of the thoughts of those haunting green eyes so he returned to his cabin. Having only a desire to get the thought of her out of his mind he searched for a notebook and finding only his ships log carefully removed a page and began writing. He wrote furiously at first then thoughtfully. After he was done he carefully folded the letter and placed it in a bottle. He carefully corked it making sure it was tight, and unobserved by anyone but the cat, he dropped it gently over the side of the ship. Only then was he able to return to his cabin and prepare himself for the day ahead.

July 18,1970

Jonathan Muir ran along the sand on the beach by his home. It was a perfect July day, hot but not humid and perfect for playing in the cool waves. He dashed in and out of the waves chasing them and running from them alternately. He carried with him a small bag for treasures. He had found some interesting rocks and shells. The most amazing thing he had found today was an unbroken sand dollar. He set himself to the task of building a sandcastle. This one would make all other sandcastles look like bilge. The trick was to make it close enough the waves to be a challenge but far enough away so that it would not interfere with his building. Just as he was choosing the right spot for this castle something glimmering in the water caught his eye. He abandoned his bag and waded out into the sea. As he got closer he saw that it was bottle, with a note in it! Just as he reached for it, it was pulled back under the sea as the wave came in. he waited patiently until it resurfaced, This time he made a grab for it and caught it. He immediately began to try to pull out the cork and was knocked under by the next wave. He managed to hold onto the bottle and this time when he regained his footing ran up onto the shore. He tried with all his might to get the bottle opened but could not get the cork to budge. Grabbing his bag of treasures he ran as fast as he could to his house.

Carolyn Muir sat by her typewriter wishing someone would come and disturb her. But as she had left strict instructions not for any reason, other than fire or the death of someone in the household, to be disturbed she was sure no one would. Then she would have no choice but to stay her till she finished her article. "why oh why is everyone behaving today?" she complained allowed. Just then she heard Martha's voice coming up the stairs. "Jonathan your mother has to finish her article today and cant' be disturbed." A moment later the door burst open and a dripping wet Jonathan stood in her room grinning and holding up a bottle in his hand.

"Mom," he said excitedly " look what I found"

"What have you go there?" she asked grateful for the interruption.

"It's a bottle with something in it but I can't get it open." He held the bottle out to her. "Can you open it?

Carolyn tried in vain to open it. She looked through the glass trying to see what was inside. The bottle was crusted with years of salt and sand but it was quite apparent there was something inside. She tapped the bottle interestedly and asked Jonathan what he though was in it.

"Maybe it's a map to pirate treasure" he said grinning. "And when I grow up I'll go out and find it."

"Maybe" Carolyn said her eyes sparkling "it's a map to an uncharted island."

"With treasure on it!" Jonathan stipulated.

"Of course, with treasure on it." She said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "lets go down to the kitchen to see what we can use to open this."

She tried several different methods to open the bottle. She ran it under hot water, she put butter around the cork to try to lubricate it, and she tried to pry it out with a knife. All the while they thought up wonderful things that could be inside the bottle.

"Here try this" Jonathan handed her a corkscrew, and she was finally able to get it off. She carefully pulled the note out of the bottle. The paper was yellow and smelled musty. She gingerly unfolded it and smoothed it out on the table. A corner of the paper crumbled off and dropped onto the floor. She felt a tinge of excitement go though her like a burst of electricity. Although she still had no idea what the note contained she felt that it must be something very important.

"it must be very old" she said quietly more to herself than Jonathan.

"Well what is it?" he demanded.

She carefully smoothed out the paper again and read the first line.

_My dearest love, _it began.

"It's a love letter" she said quietly, and without knowing why with a single tear slid down her cheek.

"Oh brother" said Jonathan loudly with much disgust in his voice. "All that time wasted for a love letter." He made a face indicating exactly what he thought about that and headed back out the front door toward the beach.

Carolyn chucked as she watched him leave shaking her head slightly. She returned to the letter being very careful to not let any more crumble and continued to read.

April 8, 1860

_My dearest love,_

I dreamed of you tonight, my dearest, my only love. In my dream you came to me, welcoming me home. Would that you were there when I arrive. My heart yearns for you it is my dearest desire to hold you in my arms at my arrival. I wished for you to be with me tonight. To view with me all the wonderful delights of a night sky, so much the same yet so different from any you have seen. The stars out here are so close that I could almost pluck a star from the highest heaven and give it to you. We could travel all the seven seas together but a lifetime would not be enough to see all the wonders there are to behold. I would take you to the most exotic ports, I would lavish you with jewels and riches beyond your wildest dreams. And yet this would not be sufficient to show you how much I love you.

You are beautiful and strong and brave. My love, my heart aches with emptiness without you. The loneliness I feel at this moment without you overwhelms me so much I can scarcely breath, or think, or carry on my duties so fearful I am that I will never again see you. When you find this letter, please come to me. We will delight in one another. My darling, my love.

With my whole heart and soul,

Captain Daniel Gregg.

"Captain Daniel Gregg?" she whispered " is that possible?" she looked up only to find her self looking into the captain's eyes. Eyes that were at this moment glittering with anger.

"Madam" he demanded. "Where did you get that?" He made a move to grab it from her but she hurriedly picked it up and held it against her chest. "Give that back" he demanded "Why do you insist on always invading my privacy."

"Invading your privacy?" She asked puzzled. "How can I be invading your privacy if you put this in a bottle floating around in the ocean for the world to see?" Then a smile broke over her face which stopped the Captain from saying anything more.

"So you really did write it?" she said softly her eyes sparkling. "And it really has been floating around in the sea all these years." She looked up, her eyes wide. "Who was it written too? Vanessa?" there was a slight edge on the word Vanessa that she was not aware of.

"No, that was after Vanessa." He sat down beside her as she put the letter back on the table. He read it over and looked at her intently. "It's amazing that this resurfaced _here_ after all this time."

"Who was it written too?," she persisted and then as if realizing she crossed the line she added " of course, I know it's private. I won't insist you tell Me." Although she very much wanted to know.

"If you must know" he said continuing to look at her intently. " I wrote to the woman that I loved, a woman I had not yet met. But she came to me in a dream and I felt her so acutely that I felt if only I knew how to reach her I could make her come to me. So in a foolish attempt to reach her I wrote the letter in hopes that it would find her even if I did not."

"Oh," she breathed softly. "That's a beautiful story. She would have reached out and would have touched his hand instinctively if he hadn't at that very moment pulled it away. "It's a shame she never found it." She said as a single tear glistened in her eye.

"Oh but she did" Captain Gregg said quietly.

"I don't understand" she spoke slowly looking down at the table. Slowly the realization of what he was saying came over her and she looked up to say something, but he was gone.

Carolyn held the letter like the treasure it was and taking it upstairs laid it carefully in a cedar box that she kept in her top dresser drawer. She read it over once again, then kissing her fingertips softly she laid them on the letter.

The Captain unseen by her, stood behind her and smiled.


End file.
